


After bitterness comes Happiness

by SeroLupus



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Angst, Blood, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Gore, M/M, Male Slash, Romance, Swearing, Violence, Zombies, eventually wee hints of smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 07:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeroLupus/pseuds/SeroLupus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cold green eyes had been directed at him, filled with annoyance. It had been like that ever since they first met each other, cold bitterness and remarks on the side. Not that it meant anything at first, but it had come to hurt one of them over time. Just slowly, as they made their way through hordes and hordes of zombies and special infected.</p><p>A look on Ellis and Nick's developing relationship through hardships and testing, where Nick is confused over what he actually feels for the boy and Ellis is oblivious and hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After bitterness comes Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> My first Left4dead2 fanfiction, and second fanfiction that I post somewhere.  
> Sorry if it's not written that well, English is not my first language. But I tried, and hope I did somewhat good.  
> The story has not been britpicked or betaread, and I don't mind if anyone points out whatever seems wrong or sentences that could have been written different! I appreciate some pinpoints as to what I can do better.
> 
> There isn't much of a plot to this story yet, as I wrote it on my phone in the middle of the night at first. The idea I had then have long since slipped my mind...
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story!!
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, they belong to Valve. And I do not make money from this, it's purely for fun, entertainment and it's a way for me to use my imagination.

Ellis had not really had a good start with Nick, that much he understood now after several weeks of Nick's insensitive bullying. He had some trouble understanding why Nick kept to that though, that he kept himself apart from everyone else as much as he could.

Coach had come to an agreement with himself and Rochelle back when all four of them had just met, that if Nick ever did something stupid or uncalled for they wouldn't hesitate to leave him behind.  
Ellis on the other hand had no saying on the matter, not that he cared much about it in the beginning.  
As they progressed and got further and further away from the hotel where they met, passing saferoom after saferoom Ellis had slowly begun to think about it all. His thoughts didn't settle in his head, even when he got to know Nick better.

Now he knew that they didn't have much in common, they were two completely different souls with different goals in life. It wasn't all that weird that they didn't get along in the first place, had been Ellis' conclusion in the end.  
He went for that, ignoring the jabs and harsh comments he got from Nick from then on, he never showed it on his joyous outside that the comments and remarks actually did hurt. And that he sometimes didn't feel as positive as he made the others believe.

\------- ~ -------

“Overalls, get your slow ass over here!” was heard from over by the door leading to the saferoom. Nick had for once tried to keep the team together, after a small inquiry from Coach that he should check why Ellis took so long.

Ellis had been injured sometime during their trip through a town, a horde had been startled when Coach had accidentally collided with an alarmed car. Pills had taken away some of the pain, but Ellis was still slower than the others.  
Rochelle had once stopped up to wait for Ellis after he got hurt, she was the one that gave him the pills after all. The others had hurried their way to the saferoom after that, leaving Ellis to fend for himself for a while. He had told them he could manage, and he had managed quite fine. 

The low growl of a hunter had went unheard when he had shouted to the others to wait for him.  
When Nick had called for him he had almost gotten to the saferoom, still not noticing the low growl from a hunter from afar now due to the blood rushing in his ears.  
Nick had been preoccupied with shooting a couple of zombies when the hunter had pounced, and he had his back turned towards Ellis.

 

The screech from said boy made him turn back around to face him, shock laced in his expression as he himself hadn't heard the hunter either.

 

The hunters claws where in Ellis' skin in seconds, his t-shirt now torn and bloodied.  
“Get it off me! Get it off mee!” Ellis shouted as he tried to move away from the hunter, his desperate shoving to no avail.  
It had been sheer luck that Nick had been so close, the injuries had not gotten too bad when Nick kicked the hunter away and shot it. The bullets from the shotgun he had sprayed the hunters brain across the concrete in splatters.

 

“You could've gotten yourself killed out here kid! Why did you slow down?” Nick had all but shouted at Ellis, faking concern for the boy. A slight tug in his chest told otherwise, that his concern was more than what he showed.

Coach had kept a watchful eye over Nick when he had heard the commotion outside, his expression filled with skepticism as Nick helped Ellis up on his feet. It was obvious now, that if Nick screwed up, only three people would leave when they left the saferoom.

Ellis didn't mention why he had slowed down as he got up on his feet, exhaustion and pain had left him shaky and pale. His smile was still plastered to his face though, even through pain and sorrow he forced it upon his lips. To keep his image up, and to lighten the burden for the others. 

“Well Nick, hadn't you've been so stuck up on yourself you might'a realized I was too hurt to go any faster” Ellis had said eventually, his accent slightly slurred now from the pain. What he said made an already slightly angry Nick even angrier. Which had it's consequences, Ellis was up against a wall in no time with Nick keeping him pined there as anger seeped into his expression.

“Had you not been such an ignorant hillbilly, you would've realized by now that I only think of myself. I follow my rules, and I have one rule kid. Always care for number one, Me! Is that understood?” Nick said through gritted teeth, keeping his voice rather low at the same time so that the others wouldn't be able to hear him. The southerner's eyes had gone round as saucers by now, and he realized his mistake much too late.

He eventually let Ellis down, when he was sure that his words had sunken into the Southerner’s brain.  
He was quick to stalk back to the saferoom after that, with Ellis trying to tag along and telling Nick “That was uncalled for, I didn't really know you wanted to be all by yourself!” in the meanwhile.

The bitterness between Nick and Ellis had only grown bigger in the hours after the incident, he had apologized to Nick several times when Rochelle tended his wounds. He had been told to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn't jar his wounds but he kept talking, in the end Nick had been the one to shut Ellis up with a simple “Shut up.”

Rochelle had then gone to the other side of the room, leaving both Ellis and Nick alone to go speak to Coach. They both spoke in hushed tones, but only about what to do about Ellis now that he was injured and unable to go on for awhile as his wounds healed up.  
There was no going back as Rochelle went back to Ellis to tell him that they couldn't go further for awhile, and it had left Ellis feeling more helpless than he already did.

 

“I'm so sorry folks, I.. I didn't know it would happen, I could'a tried to see this comin'” Ellis said, his voice now showing distress and panic. He knew that no one was going to leave him behind, but the feeling was still there. Gut wrenching and bitter.  
“Ellis, we'll go on as soon as you are well enough to travel alright? There is nothing you could've done better, the hunters are relentless. You could never have known” Rochelle told Ellis, trying to keep Ellis positive. They needed all the positive energy the kid gave, and she knew this.

His constant talking wasn't that bad really, it was only inappropriate most of the time. But in the long run, it kept the group together. It was often like scolding a child for doing something wrong when they scolded Ellis, but it kept their spirits up and it lessened the thought of having to kill the creatures walking the streets. They had been humans before the infection after all.

Nick did not share Rochelle's views on the boy, the boy had gone straight under his skin and had irked every single nerve from the very beginning. He couldn't see what the others saw in Ellis, and he had no intentions of even trying. He was only with them to survive, and he told himself that everyday. Especially when his thoughts had begun to stray, Ellis had once more gotten himself into Nick's being. Right under his skin to stay.  
He did not appreciate it the slightest, so after the incident and his little bout of actual concern he kept as far away from him as possible. To try and convince everyone that his outburst earlier had been from anger, and not worry.

The next day hadn't been any better for Nick, now forced to watch out for Ellis after Coach and Rochelle had decided that the two of them should go out scavenging for food and supplies since they where going to stay for awhile, and that leaving Nick with Ellis was a great idea. Coach did have a reason to do so, but telling Nick would possibly be the most idiotic thing he had ever done in his whole life.

Nick's bad mood had only gotten worse as Coach and Rochelle left the saferoom, since Ellis' mouth flew open the moment they had left and he told some old story of him and Keith doing what not in some far away swamp for reasons unknown.

“Ellis, could you please just shut up? I don't want you telling any more stories about Keith or Dave, I am not interested” Nick said, as he turned towards the boy. He was still a boy in Nick's eyes, and he would continue to be so.  
Ellis had complied easily, “Alrighty, but you are missing out on some good stories about me and Keith. Dave too in fact, haven't seen him for years though after he moved to Texas with his family..” he said after a short break. Which ended with a great sigh and a solid facepalm on Nick's side, no, you could never get Ellis to shut up when he was in his story telling mood. But dear god, Nick did try his best.  
After a round of story telling from Ellis, they had both settled down to eat some of the canned food that had been stored in the saferoom. Ellis had all but inhaled his food, the injuries had drained his energy and his body was obviously doing all it could to take it back.  
Nick on the other hand had eaten slowly, he didn't enjoy the canned food as it usually had an awful taste, but he would not go to the lengths of eating like Ellis even when he himself was starving. 

“Nick, could you please share some of that canned food with me?” a voice suddenly said, and Nick had been dragged out of his train of thoughts. He hadn't been listening to what Ellis was telling him, something he might as well just be happy for seeing how tired he was of hearing about Keith.

“No Ellis, you may not have the rest of my canned food. I also need nutrition and you've had your fill” he said eventually.


End file.
